Ukraine live: Russian drone ‘kills two women’ in car as Brazil urged to arrest Putin

Four-fifths of Ukrainians have supported a new law banning religious groups with affiliations to Russia in a survey released on Thursday.

It comes as Kyiv attempts to root out a branch of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine which it accuses of cooperating with Moscow as it wages its war on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is accused of being a tool of Moscow’s influence in Ukraine, with some of its clergy allegedly working with Russian intelligence. The church denies these allegations and says it broke off ties with the Russian Orthodox Church in May 2022.

Conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, the poll found significant support for the new law with over 80 per cent of respondents supporting the ban.

The poll saw 16 per cent of Ukrainians oppose the ban, while another four per cent were unsure.

Foreign secretary David Lammy has reiterated the UK’s “steadfast support” for Ukraine in a meeting with the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Russia has said a treaty signed with North Korea provides “strategic cooperation” in all areas.

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed the treaty with North Korea earlier this year but did not respond when asked how it might be put into practice.

Putin said the treaty includes a mutual assistance clause, in which each side committed to help resist external aggression.

When Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked whether Russia could be drawn into backing North Korea in a conflict on the back of this treaty, he said the wording of the agreement was “quite unambiguous”.

It implies “truly strategic deep cooperation in all areas, including security” he told reporters, according to Reuters.

Russian president Vladimir Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil next month, Ukraine’s top prosecutor has said.

Ukrainian prosecutor general Andriy Kostin told Reuters he had called on Brazilian authorities to carry out Putin’s arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court if he landed on South American soil.

The arrest warrant was issued for Putin in March 2023, around a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He is accused of the war crime of deporting children.

Russia has dismissed the warrant as “null and void”, denying allegations of war crimes.

Kostin said he had “information that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil” and reminded Brazil “it’s an obligation for the Brazilian authorities as a state party of the Rome Statute to arrest him if he dares to visit”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked on Monday whether a decision had been made on whether Putin would attend the meeting of the world’s leading 20 economies. He said: “No. When a decision is made, we will let you know.”

Jared Leto is facing backlash from Ukraine after he praised Russia during a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert on 11 October.

The 52-year-old actor and musician made the comments during a gig in the Serbian capital in Belgrade as part of his band’s Seasons Tour, which he promoted by climbing the Empire State Building in November 2023.

Speaking to the crowd in Serbia, Leto asked them if there were many Russians in attendance, which was met with enthusiastic cheers.

Read the full report by Greg Evans:

Russia’s Olympic chief Stanislav Pozdnyakov said he would make way for a replacement, saying the “geopolitical challenges” facing the country mean a “change of leader” is needed.

Russia was banned from competing as a team at the 2024 Paris Games because of the government’s invasion of Ukraine.

Pozdnyakov, who has been in charge since 2018, said: “The geopolitical challenges faced by our country dictate the need to optimise and centralise the management of key spheres of activity, including high-performance sport.

“To further strengthen the Russian Olympic movement, now there are timely preconditions, including economic ones, for a change of leader and team.”

He said he believed the ROC Executive Committee would back his proposal, Reuters reported.

Footage has emerged showing Ukrainian military recruitment officers raiding restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv in search of men not registered for conscription.

Officers positioned outside the doors of the capital city’s Palace of Sports carried out checks as people left a concert by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy.

Some men appeared to struggle and claim their innocence as they forcibly held or dragged away.

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed five and injured at least 34 others over the past day, according to regional authorities.

One woman was killed and at least 23 people injured in a Russian strike on the city of Mykolaiv, which damaged residential buildings, cars and an industrial facility.

Four people were killed and six injured in attacks on 22 settlements in the Kherson region, according to governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Donald Trump again claimed he got along “very well with Putin”, suggesting that Putin had spoken to him about his desire to control Ukraine.

Speaking at a town hall event in oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday, Trump said: “I get along very well with Putin. I got; I fully understand what’s happening.

“[Ukraine] was the apple of his eye; he used to talk about it. But I said, ‘You’re not going in,’ and he wasn’t going in.”

The presidential hopeful repeated his claim that there wouldn’t be a war between Russia and Ukraine were he still in the White House, adding that he also gets along “very well with Zelensky”.